Between Dreams
by Panabelle
Summary: Neither had ever confessed any feelings for the other, but they both knew. That night, the two bid tearful good-byes, promising to never forget. But the light that carried them both to and from the planet every night never came.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I WANNA CAR!!!! 

A/N: Don't mind my car rant, that's something I complain about a lot, it's not to be paid attention to. Anyways, this is my second Escaflowne fic, and I'm very happy with this one so far. It is chaptered, yes. I may not be the most faithful about updating, I have a thousand other projects I'm working on here, but I'll do my best so long as ppl are interested. 

I'm not so sure I have everybody in character or not, just lemme know if I don't. Oh! And review when you get there por favor!

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Between Dreams  
chapter 1

  
  


With a sigh, she lay back on her bed, her knees hooked over one side while her upper body hung off the other. It looked uncomfortable, but the position stretched every vertibre in her spine, and she was allowed the pleasure of looking out at the sky. 

She would have loved to have been able to move her bed beneath the window, to look up at the stars as she slept, but for some reason, everytime she tried, she couldn't bring herself to do it. 

It would be like admitting that she missed him too much, that she really did believe in him. 

There was no doubt in her mind that he and the others existed; she had been missing from Earth months. Both Yukari and Amano shared a double vision of her departure. And her pendant was gone; vanished without a trace. 

She knew where it was; she knew Van still had it. 

Hitomi sighed and stretched her arms out to her sides. 

_The question isn't if they existed,_ she thought to herself. _The question is, is it really right that I dwell on them like this?_

With another sigh, she twisted and writhed expertly until she had curled herself up into a little ball on her bed, head on the pillow, eyes on the sky. 

"Oh Van..." she whispered. Clutching tightly to the bedspread, she felt tears swell into her jade-green eyes. Yukari had Amano; the two tried to desperately to involve her in their goings-on, to not cling to each other too much around her. Both knew the main difference between their two visions of her departure were not in how she left--once after being chased by a dragon, a boy saving them from it, again with the same boy _riding_ a dragon--but the attitude she had towards the boy. The first time, the boy had been haughty, Hitomi had been outraged. The second time, there was something between the two that had held both Yukari and Amano silent and frozen while Hitomi leapt towards the boy's outstretched hand and into his arms. 

Neither knew which vision was the real vision of her leaving, but both knew enough from the look of Hitomi, now that she'd returned, not to taunt her with their togetherness. 

For all the good it did; Amano looked too much like Allen; Allen only made her think of Van. 

She sighed. Gripping lightly to her pillow--the feather pillow she had insisted upon sleeping with since she'd returned from Gaea, the pillow that she'd taken to the city parks and meadows every summerish weekend to lay back upon and stare up at the sky, the pillow that almost smelled like him because of all that--she clung to the image of the boy who was now a man; to that someone she knew she'd never see again.

* * *

It was a beautiful and perfect dream. The scars of the fires from 4 years before had faded into memory. The land was green again, the trees full and lush, the plants were in full bloom, each bud and leaf innocently embracing the spring's midnight as summer drew closer. Off to his left lay a flat expanse of water that stretched into eternity; the other side could barely be perceived as anything more than a blueberry haze of shadow in the clear darkness of night. Three moons were reflected on the water; at one end, glistened the Mystic Moon and its child. At the other, shimmered a moon half the size of Earth, and just as blue and green. 

At least, it _would_ have been a wonderful dream, if he didn't know he was dreaming. 

Van sighed and leaned back against the tree behind him, streching out one leg and holding the calve of the other in his palms. His sword lay next to him in the grass. 

His eyes trailed to the image of the Mystic Moon, where Hitomi was most likely asleep. He loved the image of her sleeping form; the innocence on her face, the peace that lay in the gentle curve of her eyelashes, the slight smile on her lips, the way her hands curled into childish fists that she held on the side of her face... 

He was startled out of his daydream as a hesitant hand graced his shoulder, and his head snapped around. He was met by the sight of a young woman, her hair trailing just past her shoulders and pleated into two tight braids that fell on either side of her graceful neck. Her garb was simple; khaki colored slacks that matched his, though hers clung more tightly to her form and there were extra pockets on her thighs. A knitted green sweater clung to her upperbody, accenting a body that puberty had treated well. 

If he hadn't dreamed about her every night, he wouldn't have recongnized her. 

"Hitomi?"

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A/N: Ooooo, cliffhanger...heh heh heh, haven't written one of those in a while. Like I said, if people be liking this, I'll update whenever I can. If I'm just talking to monitors, I'll update whenever I feel like it. Believe me; there _is_ a difference. ;) 

-Belle ;P  
Visit my Escaflowne Site. Angelica: Home of the Angels, at www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica. (No, it's not a Van/Folken shrine.) 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Valentine's Day is evil. 

A/N: I was hoping to post this last night, but never got around to writing it. Anyways, this story has been following me around lately, and I couldn't leave it alone. To let you know, I _know_ Van and Hitomi seem slightly out of character; I'm kinda intending to do that. It's been a few years and all, and people _do_ change over time. Anyways, happy belated day of the devil, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Review if the notion strikes you.

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Between Dreams  
chapter 2

  
  


This was a dream, right? And yet, she could feel his shirt beneath her fingertips, feel his warmth tingling on her skin. It...it wasn't possible, was it? She couldn't be back on Gaea, the pillar of light hadn't embraced her...but she was here, in the forests just outside of Fanelia but within the small country's borders... 

"Hitomi?" 

She felt his voice rip through her, as if his memories had held it back within her, and it had finally broken free. Her own voice caught in her throat, her eyes filmed over but she blinked the tears away with a smile. 

He hadn't changed. Or at least...he _had_ changed, but not like she'd have thought. He was taller--she didn't need him to stand up to know that. His hair was shorter, less chaotic, but still wild. He seemed to have finally grown into his frame as well. But there was a peace in his eyes, a peace that she hadn't seen there in all the time she'd been on Gaea four years ago, one that she had only glimpsed before he'd helped her home. 

The attitude was gone; the overly-assured and almost cocky attitude had disappeared, leaving him as he'd been those nights they'd camped with Escaflowne and Merle. Leaving him almost...regal. 

"Van..." she whispered, finally finding her own voice. 

He smiled, the expression on his face matching the shock she felt. He cautiously rose to his feet, almost as if he were afraid she'd disappear if he took his eyes off her. 

Face to face, his eyes a few inches higher off the ground than hers, he smiled at her. Both had the urge to dive in the other's arms and just stay there for forever, but neither had the nerve. 

"You've changed," they both said quietly at the same time, Hitomi looking down as she tugged nervously on the hem of her sweater, Van gripping the hair on the back of his head as he looked over and down at his sword as it lay where he had sat moments before. Blinking, they both looked at each other, then laughed quietly. 

"It's been a long time, Van," Hitomi told him, her eyes drifting out to the lake, at the silent and glass-like water. She turned and walked to the water's edge. 

"It has, hasn't it." 

She smiled. It never had been like him to ask questions. 

The water glowed brighter than the sky, and she gazed out over the surface, marveling at the clarity of the reflected stars, the Earth, the moons... 

_Moons?!_

She froze, then whirled and grabbed Van by the front of his shirt. 

"Why are there _three_ moons in the sky? I-this isn't-why are-I thought Gaea only had two moons-I thought-" 

The young king set his hands on her shoulders, laughing at her hysteria. Gently, he squeezed and smiled. 

"Gaea only has two moons, yes." 

"But then-" 

"We aren't on Gaea, Hitomi. As outrageous as it seems, we aren't." 

She looked up at him, at the calm and rational lines of his face, the peace in his eyes. Without a second thought, she leaned forward and fell against his chest, arms hanging down, face pillowed against his shirt, eyes closed. He stiffened, but then relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, stepping closer to hold her tighter. As if she were a worn-out toy rejuvinated by his touch, she pressed herself into him, her arms lifting and curling around his back, her fists clinging to his shirt. 

"Then where are we, Van?" 

He smiled, his cheek and the side of his chin pressed against the side of her head. He squeezed her tightly, part of him remembering the last time he had held her, like this, both of them in the clearing where rested his family's gravesites and Escaflowne, just heartbeats before the blue light had come for her. 

"We're dreaming, Hitomi." 

"But I can feel you, I can smell you. How can you be a dream? How, Van?" she whispered, her voice somewhere between lost and awed. 

He smiled again. "I told you before you left, Hitomi. We can see each other whenever we like, we just have to think of each other." 

She grew silent, clinging to him, considering this. 

"But then...how come we've never met like this before, Van? It's been four years...and I've never forgotten. I dream of everyting and everyone so often...but..." 

Van tightened his arms gently and momentarily, silencing her as if he had set his fingers over her lips. In a way, it worried him that she was this confused. And at the same time, he enjoyed being able to explain something to her for once, for him to know what was going on. 

"Our thoughts have never paralleled each other, most likely. In all reality, the only way either of us could have come here would be if the other was to have as well--and if both of us had fallen asleep with the other on our mind." 

"But what reality _is_ this?" 

He let go and walked to the very edge of the water, looking up at the stars. 

"Over there, the Mystic Moon and her child swim the heavens," he told her, pointing. He gestured to the other end of the lake. "And there, swims Gaea." 

Hitomi walked forward and stood next to him, looking up at his profile; there was wisdom and patience in him now...but he was still the same old Van he'd been last she'd seen him. 

"Then what is this place?" 

He blushed slightly, glancing down at her; their eyes met briefly, and he shrugged and turned his gaze back to the moons. "The Atlantians created Gaea out of their will; in a sense, it was created by their dreams. And at the same time, the survivors of Atlantis, those who found themselves on Gaea after their downfall, repaired the damage they had wrought on the planet they'd left behind with their wishes and dreams. 

"I remember my mother telling me stories once, about how two Draconians--decendants of Atlantis who were children during the destruction and the at time the curse was placed upon Atlantis--they were the age we were during the war. These two were separated, one on Gaea, the other on the mystic moon. They'd grown up best friends, each harboring deeper feelings even as children. As it became clear that there was no hope of reunion between them, the two became heart broken, crying and wishing and dreaming as hard as they could to see the other. It's said that their wishes and dreams reached the heavens, and the Gods of the stars couldn't bring themselves to fault the two children (now few years older), and so they created a world that was reminescent of both Gaea and the Mystic Moon, that the two could visit in their dreams. The two met through their dreams, and their pains of separation eased. 

"Time passed, and soon they were to the age to have been married off. They met here the night before the girl's wedding; they both knew they could no longer meet on this world between dreams once she belonged to someone else. Neither had ever confessed any feelings for the other, but they both knew. That night, the two bid tearful good-byes, promising to never forget. But the light that carried them both to and from the planet every night never came. The two lived here in happiness and in love for the rest of their days." 

Hitomi stood quietly, then blushed. 

"So this place is..." 

"This place is the world the Gods made for them...a world between dreams."

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A/N: So, you likies? You no likies? Me completely screw up with Van and Hitomi's attitudes? Lemme know in that little box down there that reads "review". 

-Belle  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All the squishy butterflies fly 'round and 'round the room. Cupid hits one with an arrow, all'a sudden--BOOM! 

A/N: Dude, I'm surprised with the response I'm getting for this. Anyways, here's another chapter. And for all the ppl who are reading PT over in the DBZ ff area, don't worry, I'm not abandoning it.

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Between Dreams

She flopped back on the ground, looking up through the knee high grass at the stars, at the Earth and her moon, at Gaea. Van had changed so much; he didn't seem to be confused at all anymore. Actually, as he stood there, a few paces off and closer to the water, hands at his sides, looking up into the slight breeze at the heavens, he seemed to know exactly what was going on, where they were, and how they'd gotten there. If she didn't know better, she'd say he knew _why_ they were there as well. 

As opposed to her, who was as confused as ever, and as lost as she'd ever been in her entire life. But the sight of him was reassuring: his strong and familiar frame, the stubborn line of his jaw and chin, his broad shoulders. 

He had changed so much; not just in the fact that his khaki-colored pants weren't so tight, and that he had traded in his signature red shirt for a khaki-grey tunic-ish turtleneck. No, he _felt_ different to her. More in control; more grown up. 

_All this has taught me how much I need to grow..._

How long ago had he said that? Had she really been gone that long? 

His hair was shorter; still unruly, but more refined. The stiff sense of purpose was gone from his shoulders, just as it had been since those first days after the war. There was this overall peace in him. It showed in his eyes, in the relaxed set of his face. He could take whatever anybody threw at him, and not take it as a personal offense, or as a challenge. 

She folded her hands behind her head and turned her eyes back to the heavens. 

"So how have you been, Hitomi?" 

His voice hadn't changed though; it was a little deeper, yes, but it still carried that hint of hesitancy in it. She could only wonder about his social skills. The familiarity of the thought made her smile. 

"I've been alright. It's always a little hard, this time every spring, but I always get through it alright." 

She saw him nod slightly before he turned and walked towards her, sitting down in the grass between her and his sword, propping his elbows on his knees and looking out over the glass-like water. 

"Have you been happy Hitomi?" 

Ah, there it was. That little glimmer of uncertainty beneath the surface, that need to protect her that gave him purpose, strength, assurance, and courage. 

"Yes, actually. When I got back to Earth, I'd been gone nearly a year. I don't know how that worked--I'd been gone months the first time, and arrived home the day before I left. I was gone half as long the second time, but by the time I'd gotten home, it was as if one day lapsed on Earth for _every_ one I'd been on Gaea. After telling everyone that I'd been sick and in America--another continent--for medical attention, I had to make up my entire second year of high school while working on the third. So for the first couple years, I didn't get to stop and think much." 

He nodded mutely. 

"Yukari and Amano are worried about me. They know something happened while I was gone, and while they can't believe me because of how absurd it sounds, they know I'm telling the truth; they saw you, and they saw me leave both times. But they don't need to worry; I have my ups and my downs, like everybody. I just have my moments where...well...where I miss you all so much. It doesn't help that Amano looks just like Allen, only with shorter and brown hair, because that only gets me thinking about Millerna, and you, and Merle, and everyone. Usually around this time of year, too." 

He fell silent, and then lay back in the grass, a curtain of green stalks between them. 

"It was around this time of year that everything started, wasn't it?" 

She nodded. 

"Which is probably why we're both here," he continued. She looked over at him, and was forced to smile as he reached out a hand and parted the grass between them, gently bending the stalks so that he could see her eyes. Over the water, dawn reached her warm fingers towards them. "Fanelia is finally rebuilt, Hitomi. This is the first time in a long time that I've been able to sit and--" 

His words cut themselves off abruptly as the clearing was flooded with a white-blue light that encircled them both, shrinking into two columns, Hitomi enbraced by one, Van by the other. 

"I guess this is good-bye," she called over, not quite sure what to say. There were so many things she wanted to know, like how Merle and Millerna were, Prince Chid and Allen, Dryden and everyone else. Was Fanelia beautiful again? Was _he_, happy? So many things, and yet she knew they didn't have time to ask or answer a single one. 

He looked over at her as he was lifted gently off the ground in his own pillar, watching with a smirkish grin as she was lifted butt first into the air, almost folded in half as she tried to right herself. He brushed a lock of hair out of his eye, reaching out a hand and grabbing his sword as it too was lifted into the light. 

"Not for forever, Hitomi," he called back. "Never forever; we'll see each other again." 

"All we have to do is think of each other, right?" she laughed. 

He nodded, but her response was lost as the two pillars rocketed them into the air and into their own beds, on their own planets.

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A/N: So that's this chapter; no, this isn't the end. I just wanted to end this chapter before the next one. *laughs; yes, it _is_ that simple. So yeah; review if you like...just know that reviews motivate me. ;P 

-Belle  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone, I walk with him till morning... 

A/N: *laughing* Actually, I should change that to _claim_er. The song ain't mine, it's from Les Mis, but that's not the point. Anyhoo, yeah. I love that song. And I'm really finding that I have more interest in this story than I first thought. Anyhoo, do me a favor and review. On with BD: Between Dreams (or Bedtime Drama, if you will, heh).

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Between Dreams  
chapter 4

  
  


He arched his back, curling his shoulderblades toward the ground as his shoulders and hips supported him. 

He had fallen asleep on the roof again. 

His eyelids twitched, and then one eye opened, followed by the other. Dawn was just starting to stretch her pink and yellow fingers across city and surrounding forests, the deep purples of night retreating to the west. 

Why was he so tired? He had slept straight through the night, slipping into dreamland before the moons had even begun to grow radiant with the magic of midnight. His body felt as if he had slept standing up, his mind felt as if it hadn't stopped at all. And yet, he had never felt so rested in all of his life...crazy how that worked. 

_How_ did it work? That dream about Hitomi, it hadn't... 

Van blinked, then subsided back onto the shingles, relaxing his muscles and cupping the back of his head in his hands. Had that really been a dream? She'd seemed so real...her voice had been so clear and so animated, he could swear he felt her when she had verged hysteria before leaning into his arms. He had smelt her, that clean scent of...what were those flowers called? Allen had once told him their name meant one who cannot be forgotten... 

And then there was the fact that they had reached the world between dreams, the one spoken of in stories and hushed whispers... 

Was that it? Had the dream not been a dream at all? Had, because they had slipped past the world of dreams to a world between them, had they really been awake in some sense all night? But then... 

Van shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. It had been a long time since his mother had told him those stories. Folken had merely laughed them off, always saying that he would never meet anybody from the Mystic Moon, and had often spent those times studying, his eyes watching Van almost knowingly from across the room. 

His missed his brother and mother dearly, his father too. He also missed Hitomi. 

With a sigh, he smiled and stooped, picking up his sword from where it had lain next to him, before he walked to the edge of the roof and grabbed the edge, swinging down onto his balcony. Falling gracefully and landing on both feet, knees bent and one hand on the ground before him steadying himself, he straightened and moved quietly into the room, ready to bathe, dress, and start the day.

* * *

For a wonderful and yet terrifying moment, she thought she was still with him, that the light hadn't claimed them both, that they had been left there on that world between dreams. 

She breathed deeply, feathers, field, and summer invading her senses, but when she opened her eyes, she was back in her room, her door across from her, her window at her back. She leaned back, peering over her shoulder, for half a second thinking she'd find him there. 

Finding no one, she rolled onto her back and gazed out the window. 

Sighing deeply, Hitomi turned back onto her side and buried her nose into her pillow, where the smell radiated from. She smiled to herself. 

"I guess that dream really got to me," she laughed quietly before pushing back her covers and setting her feet on the floor. 

She froze and looked down. 

She was still wearing her sneakers, that didn't surprise her...more often than not, she crashed before grasping the mindset of PAJAMAS. But still... 

They were tinged greenish-yellow, the laces wet and the soles slick, as if she'd been running through tall field grass all night. Slightly confused, she raised a hand to her head to scratch at her temple, only to find the source of the itch. 

Almost stalky...she grasped the thin object caught in her hair and pulled it away, her eyes widening as a blade of field grass came into her line of vision. 

She blinked, stood, and immediately had to sit down, a wave of dizziness flooding over her. She blinked again, then laughed and flopped back into her bed, arms spread to her sides, head hanging off the edge to look out at the warm tendrils of pink sunlight spilling through the window onto her ceiling. 

She should have known...only visions had ever left her so refreshed and so exhausted at the same time. Her dream of Van--or rather, _with_ Van--hadn't been a dream at all; it might as well have been a vision. She had had that feeling all night; that it wasn't a dream. Dreams didn't have sensations or feelings, but visions did. 

Arching her shoulderblades, she rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her feet. 

Despite the dream, the vision, today was no different than any other. 

Except that, for the first time in a long time, she was up early enough to race dawn.

* * *

A/N: So there ya go. Review with anything ya gots ta say, critisism, compliments, it's all good, yo. 

-Belle  
www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: vroooooom vrooooooom! 

A/N: I really have no life? Do I? *shrugs* Anyhool, here's the next chapter. And that reminds me, someone complained about the chapter length. *big grin* Here ya go, 3 pages worth of chapter!

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Between Dreams  
chapter 5

  
  


The sky was a perfect shade of blue. Not so blue that it looked like early night or early morning, and not so bright that it looked almost white. No, it was like looking up through water; the farther you looked, the bluer it got. Occasional whisps of cloud lazed about the sky, bird or kites slipping innocently through them every so often that the view didn't seem surreal. 

There was just one problem with it. 

Hitomi sighed and folded her hands behind her head, crossing her ankles and turning her eyes almost instinctively to a wide expanse of empty blue. Part of her said that the problem was that she couldn't see Gaea or that world she and Van had been on the other night. 

Another part of her protested that the problem was that she even knew they existed at all. 

She stretched languidly, relishing the early Saturday morning silence. No one was driving to work, teenagers were still sleeping, and children had been parked in front of televisions for the last hour at least and would continue to be so for another. 

She had the park to herself, and, essentially, all of the world. 

Sitting up, she stretched again and stood, bouncing on the balls of her feet and stretching her arms towards the heavens. 

Satisfied and feeling limber, she ducked back into her sweatshirt and started jogging along the sidewalk. It had been two days since she'd shared that dream with Van. She'd slept like a baby for the last two nights, almost certain that she could feel him knocking strands of hair from her face as she drifted off. 

The sound of a motorcycle cut through her quiet moment, and as she glanced over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Yukari's little Yamaha, the little yellow bike slowing and coasting along side of her. 

"Hey, Hitomi!" Yukari laughed over the purr of her bike, pushing up the visor of her helmet. "You're out early." 

Hitomi just turned jade-green eyes to her and smiled. 

Something flashed in Yukari's eyes, something warm and friendly. 

"Looks like I've finally found a way to keep pace with you," she laughed. 

Hitomi darted her eyes at her best friend, her face cracking into a wide grin. "Last one to the shore buys breakfast," she laughed, before sprinting ahead, her long legs eating up the pavement. Behind her, she heard Yukari rev the engine of the bike, followed by a "Ha!" from Yukari. 

Yukari pulled back out onto the road and roared past her in a sharp right turn. 

With a pant, Hitomi grinned madly. Yukari may have the advantage of wheels, but she also had the hindrance of roads and speed limits. 

Hitomi didn't. 

She darted across the street and into a stand of trees. Her strides grew longer, more focused. She leaned forward into the wind as the path turned downhill, zipping through the trees and hurdling over logs. Breaking through the other side into the sunlight, she saw Yukari rounding the corner, having had to go all the way around the block. Veering sharply left and dashing across the street at an angle, Hitomi cut through the market, dancing and twirling around and past sellers, stands, and buyers. People laughed at her, old friends or acquaintances calling out salutations as she passed. 

Finally breaking through onto the pavement of a favorite seaside restaurant, she saw Yukari sitting triumphantly on her bike. 

"I win, Hitomi!" she called, her eyes sparkling, part of her wondering why her friend had suddenly shot forward with an extra burst of speed rather than slow. 

"Not yet! I said the shore, not the parking lot!" Hitomi half-yelled, half-panted as she darted past. 

Desperately, Yukari fought to get off the bike, stuffing her keys in her pocket and started floundering through the sand after her. "Wait! Hitomi!" 

But Hitomi had already reached the grassy knoll of the cliff, and stood waving at her.

* * *

"You really do love that bike, don't you." 

Yukari laughed. "Can you blame me?" She paused, and then, "Hitomi? What's gotten into you to make you so spunky all of a sudden?" 

She turned her head to look at Yukari, who sat perched indian-style next to her. 

She shrugged and set her head back onto her hands, swinging her feet in the air as she lay on her stomach, looking out over the edge of the cliff at the blue water below. 

"I dunno, I don't feel especially happy or anything compared to any other day." 

Yukari looked down at her, her warm, pinkish brown-eyes smiling. 

Hitomi was so naïve. She preferred her that way. After she had come back, all those years ago, she had been happy, yes, but her eyes held a light, a flicker from having seen too much. But after a few months, Hitomi's eyes had lost that flicker and she had started to laugh again, even though there was always that small hint there. 

But now that hint was practically gone. 

Yukari laughed. "True, you just seem to be more yourself than usual lately." 

Hitomi blinked, then laughed. "How can I seem more myself that usual? Wouldn't who I _usually_ am be _who_ I am?" 

The two friends laughed. 

"I just haven't seen you so perky since you came back, I guess," 

Yukari told her as their laughter subsided. 

Hitomi let out a mental sigh as she rolled over onto her back, folding her hands under her head and propping one leg up. 

"I told you what happened while I was there, Yukari. I told you about the war and about everybody I left behind to come home." Yukari nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Hitomi continued. "I guess, when it all comes down to it, I didn't really have a chance to sit down and come to terms with the fact that maybe I _was_ a little insane when I got back, and that I _did_ choose to come home rather than stay there. But since school's ended, and since I've made up all of those credits I missed last year at college, I _have_ had a chance. And I've decided that I really don't care that I'm here or that I'm not there. Either way, part of me will always want to be where I'm not. If I were ever given a chance to do that over again, to choose where I'd want to stay, if Van or Allen or Merle, any of them, if a single one of them asked me to stay, I probably would. Either way, I'm leaving behind the most precious people in my life." 

Yukari smiled. "Personally, from what you've told me about that Van guy, you should have stayed there. I mean, I saw him; he was a cutie." Hitomi laughed, but looked up at her strangely. Yukari rolled her eyes and looked out over the ocean. "I'm just saying that you deserve to be happy Hitomi, and that I saw your face when he showed up on that white dragon." 

Hitomi sighed and sat up. "Yukari…" 

"Hitomi, I just want you to be happy. And if you ever get the chance to go back, take it, if you can be happy there. With him." 

Hitomi sat up and pushed herself closer to the rock, setting her head against Yukari's thigh. She didn't dare tell her that she didn't need to go back to Gaea to be with "him". Yukari only barely believed the reason she'd been gone, and only because she'd seen that pillar of light engulf her and "the boy"…twice. "I _am_ happy here, Yukari," she said, leaning her head into the worn denim of Yukari's jeans to look up at her best friend's face. "I don't need the illustrious 'him' beside me to keep me happy." 

Yukari looked down and smiled. 

"You're stronger than I am, Hitomi. You're stronger that I am." The two sat there for another moment before Yukari stood. "I, on the other hand, am starving. And you owe me breakfast." 

"What?" Hitomi cried. "I do not!" 

"I'm afraid you do, my friend," Yukari called over her shoulder as she started down the knoll. "You may have said the shore, but that's not where you went. At least the parking lot belonged to The Shore." 

Hitomi kicked at the grass in mock anger and started down the hill, smiling.

* * *

A/N: Just to let all of you know, right here and right now, I'm known for infamously short chapters. But also know that I'll usually come out of nowhere with an insanely long one. But yeah. Review if ya gots anything ta say. Good, bad, I wanna hear it. 

-Belle  
www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I should probably actually say I don't own Escaflowne. 'Cause I don't. And I haven't said that in the last 5 chapters. But I own this story; the storyline, plot, and all the worlds and junk that weren't stated in the series are mine. 

A/N: Dude, two chapters in less than 5 hours. I must love you guys.

* * *

Between Dreams  
chapter 6

  
  


He closed the door to his room and started down the hall, nodding politely to servants and workers as he passed them, walking at a comfortable pace through the sunny corridors. 

"Lord Van!" 

Suddenly, running sounded like a wonderful alternative. But he held his steady pace, his shoulders braced for impact. 

He heard the click of claws on the hardwood floor behind him, the swishing of garments, and then felt the paws on his shoulders driving him down to the ground and a furry cat body curled up on his back, a rough tongue licking his hair. 

"Lord Van! Oh, I missed you Lord Van!" Merle purred, furry arms tightening around his neck. 

"Don't you think you're getting a little too old for this, Merle?" he laughed, pushing off the ground and sitting back on his heels as the catgirl slid to the floor behind him. He looked back at her, only to receive a hard lick on the cheek. 

Big blue eyes smiled back into his, short and spunky pink hair stuck up in a million directions between big ears. 

"I've been gone for two weeks, cut me some slack, Lord Van," she informed him matter-of-factly, letting go of him and sitting back on her haunches. 

He smiled, her hair drawing his eyes again. 

"Your hair keeps getting shorter and shorter." 

She blinked, and suddenly looked sheepish, like she'd been caught sticking her hand into the royal birdcage, something Van had once nearly killed her for when they were barely children. 

"It keeps getting in my way…it doesn't…it doesn't remind you of Hitomi does it? Because I don't want to-" 

Van laughed and stood, pulling Merle to her feet. "It looks nice, Merle. It's just different." He held out his arm for her and she playfully took it, clinging to him. "And it doesn't bother me." 

She blinked, then scampered in front of him, placing both hands on his chest and leaning forward, forcing him to stop, as if he would keep walking if she didn't use physical means. 

"Wait, are you saying-" 

He set his hands on her shoulders. "I still love Hitomi, Merle. That won't change." 

She dropped her hands and looked at him thoughtfully. "You seem…" 

"Distant?" he supplied as they started walking once more. 

"No…_not_ distant, for once, actually," she mused. 

He opened a door, holding it for her. 

"Why did you think it would bother me, Merle?" 

She shrugged slim shoulders, her form-fitted tunic and ankle length slitted-skirt looking strangely out of place in the great hall. Her tail twitched visibly through the slit that ran up the back of the skirt, her blade could be seen strapped to her upper thigh through one of the side slits. 

"Merle," he told her, coming up behind her and setting a hand on her shoulder. She turned, blinking innocently, startled by the gravity in his voice. "The only thing that bothers me is the reason you've cut your hair." 

A reassuring smile passed over her eyes, but she merely shrugged again. "I don't care what Allen says. Your hair can be used against you in a hand to hand fight." 

He sighed. "You shouldn't _be_ fighting, Merle." 

"Who better to protect Fanelia, Lord Van?" 

"Her king."

* * *

With a grunt, he hefted the heavy sledgehammer over his shoulder and swung it forward. The wall groaned on contact, and with a wheeze, gave way. 

Resting the tool against the ground before him, crossed his hands over the top of the handle, dropping to one knee with exhaustion and resting his forehead against his wrists. 

It was murder. 

The afternoon sun beat down ruthlessly, her rays searing the skin of his back and his neck. The work was hard and strenuous. 

And he couldn't allow his people to do it alone. 

Panting, he toyed with the idea of spreading his wings, letting them not only shade himself, but using them momentarily as a fan for himself and the others. 

Van started as cold water splashed over him. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he laughed as Merle catwalked past him with an angelic smile on her face, unsuccessfully hiding an empty bucket behind her. 

_What would I do without you, hmm?_ he asked no one. A quick glisten of light flashed through the slit in her skirt along her thigh, and his smile quirked downwards. _I'd lose this war, probably, with no one on Gaea to push me forward or to fight for._

He sighed and pushed himself onto his feet once more, his eyes flickering to the sun and back. Only another hour and they'd be able to call it a day, the other men departing to mothers, sisters, lovers, wives. And he to his castle. 

He hadn't been lying to Hitomi when he'd told her that Fanelia had been rebuilt. But his country was far from completed. Stronger watchtowers were being built to replace the old. A more useful protective wall; one that could be scaled from the inside but not the out, one that would better protect sentries, warriors, and samurai. 

He rubbed the back up his neck, hefting the sledgehammer back up, hurling it once more into the wall he and the others were demolishing. 

Fanelia was prospering again, the trees green, the vegetation lush, all scars from it's previous incineration faded away. All of the houses and extras had been built, finally the castle restored; he had refused to repair more than the great hall before the homes of his people, and that much only so that they would be sheltered from the elements. The marketplace had returned, merchants from all over Gaea hawking their wares to people who needed or didn't need them. 

The happy peace of Fanelia had returned, and with it came that camaraderie that his parents had struggled to maintain with her people. 

About the only soul in Fanelia that wasn't at ease and laid back, was him. 

A smile cracked his face as he watched Merle scamper up the rubble pile on all fours, leaping from the pile to the shaky scaffolding along the new wall. She stood and tiptoed across the beams, before a man yelled at her to get down, grabbing a rock and tossing it at her as a warning as he swore and she swore back. 

Van laughed, the deep tenor of his quiet laughter reaching Merle's ears. She looked at him, then turned and stuck her tongue out at the foreman before leaping to the roof of the watchtower. Her tail was puffed up, and she sat huffily, her legs folded beneath her, her skirt spreading strangely due to the three slits, but he knew she wasn't mad, she was just playing. 

With a half-smile and a _humph_, Van slammed the sledgehammer into the wall again with renewed strength. 

Maybe he'd dream about that world again tonight; maybe he'd get to spend a few hours with her. 

Maybe.

* * *

A/N: Just to let you know, I have school again starting Monday; updates will be fewer so often. Just to warn you. 

-Belle  
www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica


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